urn:taro:utexas.cah.00247A Guide to the Raymond Louis Wilder Papers,
1914-1982Text converted by SPI Content Sciences Inc.,
April 2003.Finding aid written in English.September 16, 2003Edited with XmetaL 2 by Kristy Sorensen according to instructions
in
TARO 2 EAD 2002 Editing Instructions.
Descriptive Summary
Wilder, Raymond Louis,
1896-Raymond Louis Wilder Papers,
1914-1982.Materials are written in English.19 ft. manuscript,
typescript, printed, photographic. Dolph Briscoe Center for American
History, The University of Texas at
AustinPapers reflect the
career of the topologist Raymond Louis Wilder (1896-1982), R.L. Moore's first
doctoral student at the University of Texas. Wilder was on the University of
Michigan faculty from 1926 to his retirement in 1967, after which he moved to
the University of California, Santa Barbara. Materials include correspondence,
notes and drafts for publications, course, lecture and seminar notes,
clippings, photographs, and reprints.
Preferred Citation

Raymond Louis Wilder Papers, 1914-1982, Archives of American
Mathematics, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin.

Raymond Louis Wilder (1896-1982) was a leading figure in the development
of topology in the United States and a pioneering student of the history of
mathematics from an anthropological point of view. He was born in Palmer,
Massachusetts, and received his undergraduate education and Master's degree in
actuarial mathematics from Brown University. After moving to the University of
Texas at Austin, his interests shifted to pure mathematics under the influence of Robert
Lee Moore. Wilder became Moore's first Texas doctorate in 1923. After two years
at Ohio State University, Wilder joined the faculty of the University of
Michigan at Ann Arbor where he remained until his retirement in 1967. He was
associated with the University of California, Santa Barbara for the remaining
years of his life. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and
served as President of both the American Mathematical Society (1955-1956) and
the Mathematical Association of America (1965-1966).

Although trained in set-theoretic topology, Wilder mastered algebraic
topology, demonstrated the usefulness of a synthesis of the two schools, and,
in 1932, called for their unification. Wilder extended his early work on the
topology of the plane and continuous curves to higher dimensions and, with his
students, developed the theory of generalized manifolds. This work was
summarized in his Topology of Manifolds (1949).

Wilder's course on the foundations of mathematics, published in his

Introduction to the Foundations of Mathematics (1952), led to an interest in
the history of mathematics. The results of his historical studies using
anthropological ideas appeared in Evolution of Mathematical Concepts (1968) and
Mathematics as a Cultural System (1981).
Sources:

Papers reflect the career of the topologist Raymond Louis Wilder, R.L. Moore's
first doctoral student at the University of Texas. There is extensive material
on Wilder's research and writing on topology, the history and foundations of
mathematics, and on the place of mathematics in culture. Wilder's work for the
Mathematical Association of America (President, 1965-1967) and the American
Mathematical Society (President, l955-l956) are represented. Correspondents
include W.L. Ayres, E.G. Begle, E. Cech, J.R. Kline, S. Lefschetz, R.L. Moore,
H.S. Vandiver, O. Veblen, and G.T. Whyburn. Materials include correspondence,
notes and drafts for publications, course, lecture and seminar notes, clippings,
photographs, and reprints.

The papers are grouped in the following order: general correspondence
(1920-1982; 6 ft.), research and publication (1939-1982; 3 ft.), lectures and
meetings (1925-1977; 2 ft.), professional organizations (1922-1982, bulk:
1950-1980; 5 ft.), teaching and faculty matters (1921-1982; 2.5 ft.),
personalia (1914-1981; 10 in.). Wilder's correspondence documents his continued
interaction with his former undergraduate and graduate students, including E. G.
Begle, T. Brahana, L. Cohen, M. L. Curtis, A. Dickinson, S. Kaplan, K. Kwun, F.
Raymond, J. Shoenfield, N. E. Steenrod, and P. Swingle. The correspondence also
reveals Wilder's work in settling European refugee mathematicians in the United
States during World War II. The records of lectures and meetings often include
the texts of Wilder's lectures together with information on his organizational
work. Lectures were often the basis of articles, so the early stages of
published articles are often to be found in the Lectures and Meetings series.
Likewise, material eventually incorporated in Wilder's books, especially his

Introduction to the Foundations of Mathematics, is to be found in the records
of his teaching (15 in.). The bulk of the material on Wilder's articles, books,
lecturing, and teaching dates from the 1960's and 1970's and thus mainly
concerns his work on the foundations, history, and culture of mathematics. His
work in topology is most strongly represented in his correspondence and his
research notes (10 in.). There are extensive records of Wilder's American
Mathematical Society (2 ft.) and Mathematical Association of America (2 ft.)
presidencies and committee work.

Forms part of the Archives of American Mathematics.

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